Mnangagwa launches citizen platform to rate councils on service delivery

Mnangagwa launches citizen platform to rate councils on service delivery

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on public officials to embed accountability, integrity, efficiency and compassion in their work, saying citizen feedback must be used to improve service delivery across local authorities and public institutions.

The President made the remarks in Harare on Thursday at the launch of the Citizen Engagement and Scoring Platform, a digital system that will allow residents to rate local authorities on service delivery in eight categories.

Those categories are water, sanitation, solid waste management, roads and pothole management, corporate governance, health and environment, housing, and social amenities. Each category will have a set of questions leading to a score, with an Artificial Intelligence-enabled analytics tool designed to generate broader conclusions and ratings.

President Mnangagwa said the platform was part of the Government’s local governance reform agenda, following initiatives including the “Call to Action No Compromise to Service Delivery Blueprint” and “Minimum Service Delivery Standards”.

“This will not only strengthen trust between Government and citizens, but also lay a firm foundation for sustainable development and shared prosperity,” he said, urging public officials to recommit to a work culture where listening is deliberate and feedback drives improved performance.

The President said local authorities and public institutions must “put citizens first”, arguing that quality service delivery should be a daily focus and not an afterthought.

He said the platform was intended to shift governance from “being done for the people” to “being shaped with the people”, and described it as evidence of what he called a “listening Government”.

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President Mnangagwa said the system would enable Zimbabweans, including ratepayers and private sector players, to provide feedback, identify gaps and evaluate performance “in real time, from across all communities”.

He also highlighted the use of data and technology, saying modernisation and industrialisation required quicker adoption of new technologies and best practices. He said the platform’s Artificial Intelligence component could help Government with policy planning through analysis of the data generated.

The President congratulated innovators from Harare Institute of Technology University who developed the platform, and said it should help strengthen the “social contract” between ratepayers and local authorities.

However, he urged users to adapt recommendations from the AI-enabled tool to Zimbabwe’s “local context and heritage-based governance model”, saying the country must remain grounded in its identity and values while adopting ICT solutions.

President Mnangagwa stressed that the platform was not meant to be a “fault-finding instrument” but an analytical tool for timely correction of errors, oversight and lapses in service delivery by councils.

“To our public servants across Government, feedback is not an attack; it is guidance from the very people you are mandated to wholeheartedly serve,” he said, urging officials to use the platform as an ally for improved delivery.

He also appealed to citizens to use the platform responsibly and constructively, saying exposing inefficiencies and encouraging innovation should be the guiding motivation, rather than malice.

The launch was attended by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe, Harare Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Charles Tawengwa, Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, mayors, town clerks and representatives from local authorities, among other officials.

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